In various settings, crops or other material may be arranged for pick-up by mechanized equipment. For example, cut material (e.g., hay) in a field may be raked or otherwise arranged into windrows in the field for further processing. Various mechanisms may then be utilized to gather such material. For example, a crop-packaging device such as a baler may be pulled by a tractor along a windrow of cut material and may gather the material from the windrow. The material may then be passed into a packaging (e.g., baling) chamber for formation into a crop package (e.g., a bale). In various configurations, such a crop package may be generally cylindrical in shape and may be typically referred to as a “round” bale. Similarly, a baler that forms a round bale may be referred to as a “round” baler.
Once formed, a bale (or other crop package) may be ejected from the baling chamber of the baler (or other crop-packaging device). In known round balers, for example, a rear gate to the baling chamber may open (e.g., by pivoting backward and vertically upward), such that a formed bale may move backward (and typically fall downward) out of the baling chamber. In certain operations, bales (or other crop packages) may be wrapped with wrap material before (or after) being ejected from the baling (or other packaging) chamber. Such wrapping may be useful, for example, to provide a degree of surface protection and for structural integrity.
Known round balers (and other crop-packaging devices) typically eject a formed bale (or other crop packages) from the baling chamber before forming another bale. As such, formed bales may be ejected from the baling chamber (and the baler) relatively far from a preferred location for bale storage or use. To more appropriately locate bales or sets of bales, it may accordingly be useful to transport bales in various ways once the bales leave the baler. However, because of the significant weight of a formed bale and the susceptibility of the bales and wrap material to damage (e.g., surface damage due to rough handling), transport of formed bales may require significant effort and introduce various complications to farm operations.
In known operations, a bale accumulator or similar device may be utilized, in order to transport multiple bales to various locations. A bale accumulator may include, for example, a raised bed to support multiple bales during transport, and may be configured to receive formed bales onto the bed for transport, after the bales are ejected from the baling chamber. In other operations, other attachments or devices may be similarly (or otherwise) configured to receive a bale from a baler for transport or processing.